In-house Ensembles

It has 94 permanent members, which enables it to perform the entire symphonic repertoire from the classical period to the 21st century. The orchestra has been part of Fundação Casa da Música since July 2006.

Founder of the prestigious early music ensemble Gli Incogniti and a remarkable violinist, Amandine Beyer leads Orquestra Barroca for the first time in a programme devoted to women who defied the conventions of their time and established themselves as composers. Jacquet de la Guerre was still very young when she was nicknamed the “marvel of the century”. She was a musician at the court of Louis XIV and the first woman to write opera in France. Princess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbütttel and Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia were both composers and patrons of the arts and literature, marking the cultural life of Weimar and Bayreuth. Isabella Leonarda and Maddalena Lombardini had completely different paths: the first gave wings to her creativity in the convent, becoming the first woman to publish instrumental sonatas; the second began learning music in an orphanage and became a virtuous violinist. Another wellknown orphanage was the one in which “il Prete Rosso” (The Red Priest) worked, writing multiple works for female orchestras.